Hatfield board OKs start of promotion process to fill Lt. vacancy

HATFIELD TWP — After the retirement last month of two of Hatfield Police Department’s top officers, the process has now started to move another officer up in the ranks.

On Wednesday night, Hatfield’s commissioners voted to activate the township’s Civil Service Commission and start the interview process for moving a current sergeant up to lieutenant, according to township Manager Aaron Bibro.

New police Chief William Tierney and Bibro “desire to get our chain of command back to where it should be, with a chief and a lieutenant,” the manager said, but since the position is overseen by the township’s Civil Service Commission, the two asked the board to vote to activate that commission and start the promotion process.

Advertisement

That process will be governed by the township’s civil service rules and regulations, Bibro said, which define the lieutenant role as “assistant chief administrative officer of the Hatfield Township Police Department and a managerial employee,” and specify that only current sergeants in the department with certain qualifications may apply.

All five commissioners voted to approve the civil service activation, and also gave their assent to another request from the department: a grant request seeking funding from the state Bureau of Highway Safety and Traffic Engineering to fund the North Penn DUI Task Force for 2014.

The board also awarded a bid for the township’s annual leaf pickups for 2014 to J.P. Mascaro and Sons for $15,750, and Bibro noted that while that was the only bid received for leaf pickup in 2014, that price is the same as the prior year. Leaf pickups are currently scheduled for the weeks of Nov. 4 and 18 and Dec. 9 with a branch pickup scheduled for the week of Nov. 11. For more information and details on what can be taken, visit www.HatfieldTownship.org.

The board also discussed a letter they’re drafting to local state representatives and senators meant to ask them to support increased funding for local, regional and state transportation needs, including mass transportation as well as road upgrades. Resident Bill Forst pointed out that state funding for the long-planned Route 309 connector could divert truck traffic off local roads not built to withstand their weight, and Commissioner Scott Brown stated that his Ward One contains three train stations that residents use to commute, noting that a bridge on Walnut Street is currently weight restricted and in need of repairs to increase its capacity.

“The bottom line is that stuff isn’t free, and that’s what the argument is about. People make pledges and say they’ll never raise taxes or fees, and that’s why we’re in this dilemma,” Brown said.

The township’s financial picture, at least, is looking somewhat stronger: the board voted to accept two assessment appeals initiated by the North Penn School District that will net more than $9,000 for the township. According to solicitor Christen Pionzio, a settlement with a property on the 1900 block of North Penn Road will require a refund of $677 to that owner and a decrease in tax revenues of $87 in 2013 and ‘14, but a similar settlement for a Wawa opened in 2006 on the 100 block of Bethlehem Pike in Colmar brought in $9,469 in new revenue in 2014, a figure that will increase to $14,000 in 2014.

Township budget talks have already started internally, Bibro told the board, and the public discussion on 2014 will begin with a budget-only workshop meeting on Oct. 16. Commissioners President Tom Zipfel said he hoped that recent good news about the township’s finances could continue: “we have had a string of meetings in a row where the finances have looked very good, and having sat here for the last three-and-a-half years and seen the township in financial pain, this has been quite enjoyable.”

Bibro also reported back on resident concerns about herbicides used to spray weeds along township streets, and according to the vendor of the product used by the township, the toxicity is extremely low and has been proven through testing to have minimal impact on animals and humans.

“I feel confident we’re using something that is as low in toxicity level that you can have, for a herbicide that is meant to kill weeds,” Bibro said.

Hatfield’s commissioners next meet at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 9 at the township administration building, 1950 School Road; for more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.HatfieldTownship.org or follow @HatfieldPA on Twitter.

Follow staff writer Dan Sokil on Twitter @DanSokil.

For breaking news SMS alerts from The Reporter, text LANNEWS to 22700 from your mobile phone.